Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Latest Foldable Fun

The students in my class have been working very hard on using foldables to show what they know! Even then most basic of folds have enabled the students to produce valuable tools for studying. Here are some new pictures of foldables we have been working on! Enjoy!

The picture to the left is of a foldable the students worked on in partners to review George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The students drew a picture of their president and sorted sentence strips that had key information about each president on them. We stapled the two foldables together to display them like a "Battleship" game where one side showed the information on George Washington and the other side showed the information on Abraham Lincoln. The students really enjoyed doing this foldable!

The picture to the right is of a Famous American review foldable using a shutter fold. The students were given an oversized paper with the names already printed on the outside and a black and white picture of the famous people on the inside. The students were asked to draw pictures to show what they know about each of the Famous Americans on the outside. On the inside, they sorted phrase cards that contained riddle-like clues (for example: "I had a dream that one day all people would be treated equally, regardless of race." for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.). Some students (keep in mind that they are 2nd graders) were very detailed in their drawings. I was very impressed with the success of this foldable. Parents were appreciative, too, because they could use the information within the foldable to practice for the unit test.

The pictures in the center below are from the fractions foldable we have recently constructed. The students created a graphic organizer on which each page tehy displayed the word and number forms and the picture associations of fractions of a shape and fractions of a group for fractions 1 whole, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, and 1/10. The great thing about this foldable is that the pages are all different colors, the circles were pre-divided (so the students didn't have to spend too much time trying to figure out how to draw the lines so that they are "right"), and the students could trace one portion of the whole to show the fraction we were considering. We have displayed these foldables in the hallway because they are so bright and fun and the students really worked hard on them!

I'm just guessing, but it looks like the circles are folded in half, then the back of the halves are glued together so the "books" would be open to one fraction at a time, the rest would be folded in half underneath. For example, glue one half of 1/3 to 1/4 and one half of 1/3 to 1/2...1/4 and 1/2 would be folded underneath...Not sure if that's clear, but hopefully it will help!

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Foldables!

What are Foldables?

Foldables are interactive, three-dimensional, student-made graphic organizers. These student created projects are visual and kinesthetic activities that assist with organization and retention of information.

What are Foldables used for?

Foldables can be used for in-depth studies of an idea, concept, opinion, person, place, event, investigation, theory, or question. They can be used for note-taking, journaling, cause- and effect, comparing and contrasting, vocabulary development, sequencing, concept mapping, tables, charts, graphics, cumulative study aids, diagrams, and as an alternative form of assessment.